What American girls are good for.

A friend once repeated a remark he'd heard a comedian say - "The only thing American girls are good for is ordering off a menu." Now, I think this is hilarious - I also think there is some truth in there. We're good at other things, sure, but we're especially good at ordering from menus. Why? Because Americans are used to an abundance of choice. Our menus - our world - is options galore. Our problem isn't a lack of options, it's actually that we have too many options - and we don't know how to make informed choices about what we eat.

I have a life-threatening food allergy. Boring! Honestly, it's not something which impacts my day to day very much. The only time it's ever much of an issue is when I dine out. I guess my point is this - if I, with a life-threatening food allergy and all my damn dietary restrictions can still walk into any restaurant (Okay, maybe not The Stinking Rose) and manage to order a meal that I'll survive the consumption of, which is also reasonably healthy and tasty - anyone can. It's simply a matter of making informed and intelligent decisions about what I put in my body.

Tonight I went out to dinner with friends. I did what I usually do - I ordered two appetizers. Why? Because I like being able to have more than one thing, and I've found that the portions are much more reasonable. One dish was a lovely Japanese cucumber salad with seaweed, peppers, asparagus and a sesame and vinegar dressing, and the other was kabocha tempura. No meat. No dairy. Not a whole lot of fat. Yum as fuck.

Random Cookbook Plug: Dolores Casella's The Complete Vegetable Cookbook

Industry. Industrial. Industrious?

There are weekends when all you want to do is hibernate, and then there are weekends full of events. For me, the best weekends are a combination of the two.

Today was a great Sunday. I started my day off by baking bread for the week. Is there anything as fantastic as the smell of yeast bread in the oven? I'm fairly certain there isn't. I also made banana bread. My banana bread is not particularly sweet and is also more bready than cakey - personal preference.

I had breakfast with a friend at a favorite dive in Fullerton which we used to frequent. Ah, nostalgia (in more ways than one!). After that, did a bit of shopping at Henry's market with my friend Bärbel. I love Henry's - it's way up high on my list of favorite markets. Yes, I have a list. The Oly Co-Op is my favorite, but also on the list are Henry's, Herbie's, Co-Opportunity, Whole Foods, Mother's, Glatt Mart, Erewhon, and Northgate. Those are actual markets. There is also the local farm where I get my eggs and raw milk, the farmer's market where I get my honey, etc. I freely admit that grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do. But I digress...

Over frozen yogurt (raspberry tart, hello Yogurtland!) we discussed what we've been cooking lately. As we both eat seasonally, there has been lots of asparagus on the menu. What I love about Bärbel is that she's as food obsessed as I am, so that's okay! Anyway, she's from a region where the good asparagus is grown. White asparagus has a short season, but it's amazing. When it's in season people gorge on the deliciousness. She was telling me about this dish her mother makes that honest to goodness had my mouth watering - asparagus, hollandaise, herbed Flädle and good German ham. Holy crap and a half, that sound wickedly tasty.

So, in honor of Bärbel's mum, tonight for supper I am making savory crepes with fines herbes (sans chive, of course), asparagus and topping them off with hollandaise. Yum.

Besides, I'll have lots of egg whites leftover from making the hollandaise, which gives me an excuse to make macaroons! (Not that I need an excuse.)

Crap... or brilliant?

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I know I am amused by it, but I might also be horrified. Crap, or fab?